Archive for the 'manga' Category

Attention cartoonists! Japan’s International Manga Award just opened a call for applications for its 5th year! This award goes to manga artists worldwide (outside of Japan) and the application period ends August 31st 2011. So check out these application instructions and enter!Tweet

If you don’t know Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, it’s an amazing book and website by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden about comics craft which is also a great textbook. I found it indispensable for teaching college classes on comics writing, that’s for sure! I was invited to write a post for their site about my experiences with manga and it’s impact on my work. If you’ve ever wondered about the details of my involvement with manga and Japan, and exhibiting at a comics show there, here’s your chance to read all about it. Please check it out!

On April 12th I received the International Manga Award for Dolltopia! It was at a small ceremony and dinner with Deputy Consul General Yasuhisa Kawamura and Consul Masakazu Kigure. What a great experience! It was so interesting to spend time with diplomats and share our thoughts on manga being a worldwide culture, we also discussed how artists can help with the current crisis in Japan. It was wonderful and I feel incredibly honored. Photo above by Matt Loux.

Today it was announced that Dolltopia won a Bronze 4th International Manga Award! This is such a huge honor for me. A manga-inspired cartoonist can’t ask for more validation than this “Nobel Prize of manga” from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I want to send my heartfelt thanks to all of my wonderful family members, friends, fellow artists, editors, publishers, and supporters who were behind my vision from the beginning. Full press release below!

Here’s something really exciting that just happened! Japanese Professor Fusami Ogi of Chikushi Jogakuen University had been in contact with me as she has been researching women in comics worldwide. She had invited me for a conference Dec. 19th which would include shoujo manga legend Moto Hagio. Schedule-wise, it didn’t work out for me to attend, but I was asked to write an essay about my favorite work from Hagio’s collection, A Drunken Dream as part of the presentation. I submitted my essay which was translated and read by Fusami at the presentation to a very positive response and Moto Hagio was presented with a copy of Dolltopia too! So I did get to participate, if from a distance. This was far and beyond my expectations, I never thought I’d get to participate in an event with this manga trailblazer, and am truly beside myself! Thank you Fusami and Moto Hagio for this amazing opportunity! I only hope I can be there in person to visit with you next time. Fusami sent me this photo of herself, Moto Hagio (with Dolltopia!), and her mother, sister, and father which I am posting with their permission. Truly, I am honored!

I am very much looking forward to the Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden! I even designed these special pins to sell at the event so people can have cherry blossoms all year round! I’ll also have postcards, my graphic novels and bonus manga from Japan by my friend Yuuko Koyama! I’ll be at the Manga and Anime Alley both days! See you there!

Friday 8PM – Signing Autographs in room 1A01
Friday 9PM – Yaoi Roundtable with guest Frank Pannone of Media Blasters and Kai-Ming Cha of PW Comics Week!
Not only will it be a lively discussion -we will be raffling off autographed yaoi manga and other prizes from Media Blasters and DMP!
Saturday 11:15AM – Cooking Manga Panel with guests from French Japanese Dessert Café Luxee! We will be offering a sneak peek at Oishinbo – the ultimate food manga! We will also be raffling off food manga including Kitchen Princess and other prizes.

Big news! I just got my first assignment adapting a manga translation! It’s for the upcoming Del Rey Manga release, Gakuen Prince by Jun Yuzuki. It promises to be funny and have pretty boys (like my fave manga The Wallflower), sounds just right for me!